Monthly mission II

Alden walked through the busy, congested streets of the Durban CBD. The smells from the takeaways flooded Alden's nose, making him think of his mother's excellent cooking. The sound of traditionally South African amapiano playing from passing taxis filled the air, fighting for superiority with the sounds of pedestrians and car engines. Alden watched as different people crossed his path, each one with lives and stories of their own.

Alden skipped over a crack in the pavement, out of habit probably. He mindlessly perambulated through the Durban streets, on his way to the location of the Monthly mission.

A whole month had passed since he awakened. Alden couldn't help but be amazed at how much he had seen and experienced, and he was even more surprised by how much he had changed.

What a ride it had been.

Alden finally took a turn to his right before finding the location he was supposed to be at.

The location was downtown Durban, and the entire street where the gate was located was closed off. It was a gate in the middle of the road.

Alden squeezed through the bodies of people surrounding the gate and headed toward the registration office, and after confirming his identity was allowed access within the barrier placed around the gate.

Alden walked to the group that stood near the gate, and instantly he noticed a difference between the group from the group he had been in and this group.

The members of this group stood in a circle, surrounding a single person. They were organised and all of them were silent as they listened to what the speaker said.

"Uh, hello?" Alden asked as he approached the group. The dozen or so faces there turned to face him, and a single person spoke. It was the person they all surrounded, she seemed to be the leader.

"Are you Alden Hall?" The woman asked. She had blonde hair that flowed down her head, like a waterfall and her green eyes were rich and beautiful, like natural greenery. Her features were delicate and soft, giving her a peaceful appearance.

Alden nodded his head.

"Welcome, I am Sarah Foster, a hunter that will be accompanying you today in this dungeon mission," She nodded her head at him before turning away, back to the group.

Alden joined the encirclement and listened to what the leader had to say. After she was done speaking to them, mostly telling them the basic rules of the dungeon.

"Now, I hope everyone is prepared?" Sarah asked, her blonde hair flying in the wind.

"Yes, captain." Was the reply.

"We've got three newcomers who are joining us today so just introduce yourselves before we enter the dungeon. The captain said as her somewhat intimidating gaze swept past Alden and those around him.

"Prince Cele, E-ranked ranger, wielder," The first newcomer said introducing himself. He had a huge smile on his face as he did so.

"Alden Hall, F-ranked ranger, puppeteer," Alden nearly mumbled put off by the staring.

"Dillon Naicker, C-ranked ranger, melee combatant" The final newbie mumbled.

"Good now let us all get along." The Ranger peeked at her watch before looking back up."All right let us not waste any more time here. Follow me and don't try to do anything stupid or impulsive and follow my lead."

Alden sighed to himself. He knew he wouldn't enjoy the dungeon mission because he had to hide his power there. Thus he could not fight all out and enjoy himself.

He had to hold back and just control his puppet and there too, he had to be careful not to be too good at it.

Alden just kept his thoughts to himself and followed his leader through the portal, so that when he took the next few steps, he found himself in a whole new world.

From what he saw, they were underground. There was a high rocky ceiling that was filled with plenty of dark corners, and the tunnel led deeper and deeper until further in, the ceiling got lower as the tunnels got narrower.

Alden followed the group closely behind, casting looks backward to check if the entrance would disappear.

"It's not a false gate, thankfully," The other newcomer, Prince whispered to him

"uhh, yeah," Alden said, raising his eyebrow. The guy was energetic, and Alden was puzzled as to why he was suddenly engaging in conversation with him. Alden internally sighed. He had much luck with finding these sorts of characters, didn't he?

"I heard you were in a false gate, it was all over. How was it? Scary?" Prince whispered, rather excitedly.

"It will be, if you don't get in formation and keep chatting to a minimum, Prince," The captain said, turning to send a glare Prince's way. Alden could almost feel the tremor running down Prince's back.

Prince quickly got into formation and the group went on until they found their first hurdle. Reptile-like creatures that walked in 4 limbs. They were like some sort of dinosaur with long front limbs.

They came in large numbers, and soon the group members were in position, and ready to strike.

Spells began flying and Alden was ready with his puppet.

The battles began.